Archive for the ‘brass door handles’ tag

Were you the same? Whenever I had a wobbly tooth as a young child, I couldn’t resist relentlessly fiddling with it. My parents always threatened me with a piece of string being tied around it and the door being slammed, in an attempt to drag out my wobbly tooth, which obviously irritated them more than it did me. It is thought that the idea of slamming doors to remove teeth via the use of a piece of string has originated from the Victorian era but seems to have lasted much longer than the majority of their traditions. It may seem like perhaps a strange topic to write about but it is actually relevant, I feel, as originally door handles and door knobs would have been the key part in this tooth extracting process. But can you guess what has replaced them?

Don’t Drone on about Door Knobs or Door Handles

It became apparent last week that door knobs and door handles had a new rival, as it went viral that multiple children were asking their parents to extract their wobbly teeth by using…drones! A drone is small, radio controlled, helicopter like device which has an inbuilt camera (often multiple) and they are designed to be controlled from a smartphone or tablet.

Victorian Door Knob Method

Malcolm Swan, for example, used a quadcopter drone, to enable him to remove his sons loose tooth. This was done by attaching dental floss tightly to Adam’s loose tooth, with Malcolm initiating the drone to start flying. Adams reaction in the illustrative video shows that it was definitely not a traumatic or painful experience but one of ease, excitement and great success. However, do not be so naïve as to think that this is the case every time. There are many stories that involve drones in relation to child tooth extraction which are nowhere near as successful or as pain free, so as much as we are pleased that Adam had a lucky escape with his extraction, perhaps we should all stick to using the old fashioned, tried and tested Victorian method, which never seems to have failed – door handles and door knobs!

Germs carry all sorts of invisible little nasties, but not for much longer. However, Domestic departments in North Lincolnshire hospitals are using a combination of special fluorescent marking gel and UV light to highlight specific areas, such as door handles, to make these invisible little nasties visible to all.

They are able to do this by using the fluorescent marking gel in conjunction with UV lighting, so that the germs are more easily seen and therefore either cleaned more frequently. This is an attempt to make patients, visitors and staff more aware of what is on their hands, to try and lower infection rates and cross-contamination. Areas such as door handles are very prominent places for such germs to be lurking due to the volume of people that touch them. The NHS hopes that this new idea can instil confidence in visitors, patients and staff.

Hi-Tech Door Handles

Certain areas around the hospital are to be tested with the new fluorescent marking gel and UV lights. They will be working in conjunction with I-Pods enabling the collected data to be recorded. The equipment need to test this strategy of germ prevention in parts of the hospitals involved, will be on a two year lease from Trust’s Dragon Den scheme. The idea was highly thought of by the executive and non-executive directors, which David Mooney, a hospital support services supervisor, had created, initiated and pitched to the Trust.

Dragons Den Door Handles

David Mooney secured £7,000, post Dragons Den scheme, to enable the lease of specialist equipment and technology to record trending data. This is an important step, as Mooney is aware, purely due to the rate at which the germs in question are able to spread in a hospital. Mooney stated that they have “…previously been able to monitor and record how clean an area is by checking the visual signs such as dust. We have never been able to look any further until now.” However, since the hi-tech data collection and analysis technology has been leased to Mooney, it is now more than visible. Cleverly, the I-Pods alert the user as to which area has passed or failed the germ cleanliness test enabling monthly reports to be collated for staff, patients and visitors to see.

The battle is now on between humans and germs. Unity is being formed between the Dragons Den scheme, hospital, staff, patients and visitors. In order to gain this unity and retain it, feedback is needed so that this new fluorescent marking gel can be nurtured in to being as effective as possible.

Door Handles Make Germs Visible

The specific areas in the hospitals that are having the fluorescent marking gel used in them are the most frequently used places. They include areas such as door handles,trolleys, desks, call bells and bedsidetables. It is applied through a sponge on the tip of the dispensary gel tube – thus known as a dabbing device. Once applied, it is left on the applied area for 24 hours and is then shown the UV light – this is when the magic is apparent. The invisible germs are now visible, which, in theory, should reduce the time that patients spend in the hospital.

If this article has made you think about how important internal door handles or external door handles are in your home or work place, get in touch with Handsome Handles on 07961 832 812 or alternatively email them at info@handsomehandles.co.uk

Expecting to triple his outgoings and make £60,000, one South Shields builder is now estimated to make a minimum of £2m, all thanks to vintage door knobs, door handles and other brass fittings at auction.

Having heard that an estimated 655,000 ornate, rare and vintage brass items, purchased many decades ago by a Cornish millionaire, now needed rehoming, Mr Brian Cairns had a plan. He aimed to triple his outgoings of £20,000 by selling these items for scrap. This was, until he discovered, that this so called scrap was harbouring a secret.

He embarked on a journey to Penzance, to a property full of brass after a tip-off, where Cairns entered a time warp. It was evident on entry that the property had not been changed at all since the wife of this Penzance junk shop had died in 1975. A newspaper abandoned mid-read, unfinished, still spread open on the table – “the owner just didn’t want to go back in to the premises again.”

Mass of Brass – All 12 Tonnes of It

Cairns and the elderly owner concluded a deal, which although did not reflect the brass’ true price or later discovered value, the junk shop owner wanted rid. His reason for this was due to the number of painful memories and connections which the belongings held in relation to his deceased wife. Cairns made transportation plans for the 12 tonnes of brass, hiring two seven-and-a-half tonne lorries to carry the mass of brass back Northwards. The 500 mile journey took multiple days as the lorries were limited to remaining between 10 and 30 mph due to the weight of the brass they contained.

Get a Grip on a £200 Handle

All 655,000 brass items slowly but safely back in the North East with 55-year-old Brian Cairns ready to sell them for scrap, he decided to do some research and have them valued…luckily! During this he discovered that many of the door knobs, door handles, light switches, hat stands and letter boxes were actually Valli and Columbo Vintage. This had been an Italian company which ceased production 55 years earlier. Many of the handles estimated worth, he later found out, was that of around £150 each and the brass handles estimated £200 each. Cairns comment implies how lucky he realised he was, “I bought it all for scrap but I started looking in to what they really were and realised many were vintage Italian handles.”

Individually each handle price was not going to make Cairns a particularly huge profit but with 655,000 brass items to sell, a huge percentage of which were the afore mentioned brass door knobs and door handles, the estimated profit has grown. Mr Cairns has since had many of these items looked at by specialists and auction houses and it has been estimated that he is set to make a minimum of £2m. It pays to have potential “scrap” valued before letting scrapping commence, as this has made one South Shields father-of-four an overnight multimillionaire!

Handsome Handles Door Knobs and Door Handles

Great door knobs and door handles are available at Handsome Handles and won’t cost you a fortune – they are quality, affordable products which can be found on their website. To find out more about brass door handles, door knobs and door handles visit them at info@handsomehandles.co.uk or call them on 07961 832 812.